Friday, December 24, 2010

Yes, crews are restricted from revealing details about security precautions, but one must consider that what this man is doing is not in the interest of weakening security, its in the interest of strengthening it. As more comes out about this case, I have no doubt that it will be learned that this pilot complained about this directly to the TSA, and was met with deaf ears. One must ask "would it be better if he had remained silent?" From my perspective, he has done precisely what he should have done; a pilot's first priority is the safety of his/her passengers. This man has exposed himself, and his career, to considerable risk in fulfilling his primary duty.

Having spent over 6 years in the airline industry, I know that everything this courageous man is saying is true. While TSA is fondling grandma and children, there are massive holes in the security fence left open.

Pilots and Flight Attendants go through rigorous background checks, yet are still subject to humiliating and time consuming searches every time they report for work. Conversely, ground crews and vehicles are routinely allowed on the ramp without even a cursory amount of inspection.

The next time you are on an aircraft, look out the window onto the tarmac and contemplate who those guys are and what they brought to work that day with only the swipe of a security card. While your thinking about that, realize that they have unrestricted access to every part of the aircraft you have boarded. Have a nice flight!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Drudge Report reminds us that everything old is new again. Well, we can only hope that the new Republican blood that's been infused in Congress will force on the President those actions that he has eschewed in the past.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

There's a very interesting piece in Britain's Daily Mail regarding the growing Muslim issue in Great Britain. Some of the revelations are troubling; our friends across the pond are in cultural crisis. While the UK's muslim population currently comprises only 3 or 4 percent, it is not only growing, but it's growing more violent:

Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks' publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.

A survey of 600 Muslim students at 30 universities throughout Britain found that 32 per cent of Muslim respondents believed killing in the name of religion is justified.

A U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2009 quoted a poll by the Centre for Social Cohesion as saying 54 per cent wanted a Muslim party to represent their world view in Parliament and 40 per cent want Muslims in the UK to be under Sharia law.

So, tell me again that "militant Islam" comprises only a very small part of "the faith"; these are more than substantial percentages and clearly represent a dangerous enemy already within the confines of the West.

Since the U.S. and Britain share this common enemy, one would hope that the governments would cooperate to find a common solution, after all, we will soon be facing this problem in this country. On the contrary, it's pretty clear that the Obama administration has already written off the Brits and are now focused upon the new Muslim overlords:

A further U.S. cable, dated February 5 2009, said reaching out to Britain's Muslim community there was a 'top priority' for U.S. embassy staff.

It stated: 'Although people of Muslim faith make up only 3 to 4 per cent of the UK's population, outreach to this key audience is vital to U.S. foreign policy interests in the UK and beyond... This is a top mission priority.'

The February cable outlined a plan encompassing 'engagement and community capacity-building' to counter the possible growth of 'violent extremism' in the UK.

Furthermore, it clearly outlines the deplorable work ethic of the Mohammadens and partially explains why Britain is in such bad economic shape:

The outreach plan for British Muslims was published a month after a cable that revealed that while the community had grown to more than 2 million, unemployment rates were higher among Muslim men and women than in any other religion.

Muslims were also found to have the highest disability rates - with 24 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women claiming a disability - while the cable also cited statistics claiming Muslims were also the most likely group to be unavailable for work or not actively seeking employment due to illness, their studies or family commitments.

It was revealed last week that a U.S. cable from 2006 had suggested the British Government had made 'little progress' in engaging Muslims and combating homegrown extremism.

Yeah, as though these beasts are even capable of being "engaged", geez.

And again, the Brits are written off and the administration has clearly decided to "engage" the Muslims directly. What could go wrong?:

And the latest cable revelations of U.S. ambassadorial plan to empower Muslim communities to 'mobilize against extremism' and 'build community resilience' confirms the White House's lack of faith in the British Government's ability to engage with the UK's Islamic population.

That's just great; we choose to "engage" a shiftless bunch of barbarians who are our sworn enemy while undermining our closest ally. Just another day in the Obama administration.

If you thought the gaffes in Diane Sawyer’s interview with our counterterror brain trust couldn’t get worse than “364 days a year,” skip ahead to 3:35 and brace yourself. It’s so bizarre that I’m actually searching for ways to rationalize it. Napolitano claimed yesterday that there was no evidence thus far to think the plot was aimed at the U.S., so … maybe they figured Clapper didn’t need to be briefed on it? That can’t be right, though. There were fully a dozen men arrested and, after all, British-based plots have targeted America before, so surely the DNI would be apprised. In fact, let’s approach the question this way: Why would the DNI ever not need to be briefed on a major unfolding plot? Napolitano and Brennan apparently knew the details; even if Clapper was in a meeting when the news broke, wouldn’t you pull him out of it or at least him fill him in on the details on the way to being interviewed by a major network news anchor? Sawyer herself is clearly amazed by his ignorance or else she wouldn’t have devoted valuable airtime to highlighting it.

Just to observe these three together underscores the utter cluelessness of Obama appointees. “The Three Stooges” come to mind, but at least they were funny, and fictional. These three are all too real.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Attorney General Eric Holder has an urgent message for Americans: While he is confident that the United States will continue to thwart attacks, "the terrorists only have to be successful once."

And while it is not certain we will be hit, the American people, he told ABC News, "have to be prepared for potentially bad news."

"What I am trying to do in this interview is to make people aware of the fact that the threat is real, the threat is different, the threat is constant," he said.

In a rare and wide-ranging interview, the attorney general disclosed chilling, new details about the evolving threat of homegrown terror, and touched on topics ranging from Wikileaks to the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

What was uppermost on his mind, however, is the alarming rise in the number of Americans who are more than willing to attack and kill their fellow citizens.

"It is one of the things that keeps me up at night," Holder said. "You didn't worry about this even two years ago -- about individuals, about Americans, to the extent that we now do. And -- that is of -- of great concern."

"The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens -- raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born," he said.

In the last 24 months, Holder said, 126 people have been indicted on terrorist-related charges, Fifty of those people are American citizens.

"I think that what is most alarming to me is the totality of what we see, the attorney general said. "Whether it is an attempt to bomb the New York City subway system, an attempt to bring down an airplane over Detroit, an attempt to set off a bomb in Times Square ... I think that gives us a sense of the breadth of the challenges that we face, and the kinds of things that our enemy is trying to do."

Holder says many of these converts to al Qaeda have something in common: a link to radical cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, an American citizen himself.

The fact is that there does seem to be an uptick in thwarted terror plots over the last two years. Clearly the FBI is doing their job, but one has to wonder why the AG has chosen to make people aware that we "have to be prepared for potentially bad news". Why is the threat "different" than it has been in the past, and what is behind Holder's rather jarring statement?

That he's pointing out radical Islam as the problem, rather than "Right-Wing Fanatics", makes me think that something may be imminent.

President Barack Obama will remain in Washington for as long as Congress stays in session, and that likely means later than the scheduled start of his Christmas break, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Saturday is supposed to be the start of the Senate's Christmas recess and the day Obama and the first family head for Hawaii.

However, Gibbs told reporters that a Saturday departure appears unlikely.

"I think the Senate is going to be in longer than this week," he said, adding that Obama will stay in Washington for "as long as the Congress is here."

That's precisely what we are doing. The 111th Congress has failed to even pass a budget for the upcoming year and now, after a substantial number of them have been fired as a result of the November elections, they are rushing through a budget at the 11th hour, just 19 days before the end of their term. This congress has made a habit of this; the massive Health Care overhaul, their "centerpiece" (which a federal judge has ruled "unconstitutional"), was jammed through in the dead of night before members even had a chance to read it. Speaker Pelosi's response? “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."

Indeed. Well, we found out what is in it (and are still looking), and the more the American people see, the less they line it:

Coinciding with a federal judge’s ruling invalidating a key element of the health care reform law, an ABC News/Washington Post poll finds support for the landmark legislation at a new low – but division on what to do about it.

The law’s never been popular, with support peaking at just 48 percent in November 2009. Today it’s slipped to 43 percent, numerically its lowest in ABC/Post polling. (It was about the same, 44 percent, a year ago.) Fifty-two percent are opposed, and that 9-point gap in favor of opposition is its largest on record since the latest debate over health care reform began in earnest in summer 2009.

More also continue to “strongly” oppose the law than to strongly support it, 37 percent to 22 percent.

Yes, and this legislation was their crowning glory! The people have not only thoroughly rejected this legislation, we, during the November elections, thoroughly rejected this congress. This may well end up to be the worst congress in history; it has been inept and has arrogantly flouted the people's will. Their imperiousness has not only been noticed, it has earned them the distinction of being the most unpopular congress in the history of polling:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job. The 83% disapproval rating is also the worst Gallup has measured in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.

The prior low approval rating for Congress was 14% in July 2008 when the United States was dealing with record-high gas prices and the economy was in recession.

Now, with just 19 days until their term is relegated to the annals of bad history, they are attempting to jam through a fat laden, sickeningly "sweetened" $1.1 Trillion spending bill as their parting shot. This is tantamount to a fired employee emptying the office supply closet, stealing all the furniture, leaving you with an irrevocable budget for the following year, and driving away in the company car!

This bill is unacceptable. There should be a stopgap spending bill to ensure the government's basic funding through January and the new congress should pass a austere spending bill that is commensurate with the cuts that are so sorely needed.

After having participated in tripling the deficit in the last two years, the President has begun to talk about "deficit reduction" like Lindsay Lohan talking about quitting cocaine. Put the bill on his desk and let's see if the President's resolve is any stronger than Lohan's.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I can't speak for anyone else, but whenever I hear about the "economic recovery", my immediate response is "Huh?". It's a phantom, a semantically well crafted message to make us all feel like that elusive light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train.

Nationally, unemployment is at least 10% and the longer this alleged "recovery" lasts, the more it seems to rise. The stock market seems to be holding it's own, perhaps due to the increased productivity of a shrunken work force, or perhaps business is adapting to a new reality - that being that a "permanent" work force may no longer be the most cost-effective strategy:

This is the first entirely "temporary help service" job recovery. Our current "recovery" might be in its seventeenth month, but the few new private sector jobs have come from companies temporarily hiring staff on a contract basis. What were once jobs reserved for people hired to cover seasonal demand or permanent employees on sick leave have become the standard employment for many workers. Companies simply don’t want the risk of hiring workers that they might soon have to get rid of.

Since the recovery started in June 2009, the total number of private sector jobs has increased by 203,000. But these weren't "regular," permanent jobs. Indeed, permanent private sector jobs fell by 257,000.

"Temporary help service" jobs is what made up the difference, as they increased by 460,000. For all sectors of the economy, including government jobs, the drop in the number of permanent jobs during the recovery was even worse -- a drop of 561,000.

The trend has recently been getting worse. During five of the last six months, the total number of permanent jobs fell. The new unemployment numbers released on Friday weren't as bad as other recent numbers. There were 39,000 more jobs during November. However, with 39,500 coming from temporary jobs, there would have been essentially no new permanent jobs.

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics started collecting data on these temporary jobs in 1990, such jobs were much less common than today. Only about half as many people held temporary jobs two decades ago. Since then, the current recovery is record-setting in terms of adding temporary jobs. We can compare the three recessions since 1990. While the current recovery has seen the share of jobs held by temporary workers increase by 26 percent, the recession that ended in March 1991 saw a 10 percent increase in share held by temporary workers and the recession that ended in November 2001 had no increase (see the diagram here).

The explanation behind temporary job creation is pretty simple: uncertainty. Companies don’t want to make longer-term commitments if they don’t know what the next couple of years will look like. New regulations are being imposed on companies, be it health care, finance, the environment, and the other areas. And the exact form and extent of these regulations still have to be determined by regulators. Many small companies don't even know what tax rates they will face after the beginning of the year. Neither the president nor the Democratically controlled congress attempted to prevent income tax rates from rising for even the middle class until just a few weeks before they were expected to rise.

President Obama's stimulus and regulations have created much of today's unemployment by moving around trillions of dollars in the economy and moving around the jobs that are associated with that money. People haven't instantly moved from one job to another.

A 9.8 percent unemployment rate that is higher than when the recovery began and 6.3 million people who have been unemployed for more than 6 months are both bad enough. But Obama hasn't just created a lot of unemployment and a stagnant economy, he has also changed the types of jobs that people are getting.

The key word in the above piece is confidence. Economies are based on confidence - employers must have confidence that economic conditions warrant expansion and the hiring of permanent employees. On the other side, employees must have confidence that they will have income in the future that will warrant their investment in homes, automobiles, and all of the goods and services that make our economy grow and prosper.

With high unemployment and an increasing number of jobs being classified as "temporary", I simply do not sense any confidence in the near future, on any one's part. Therein lies the problem.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

No, not Minneapolis (thank God), but a lovely layer of global warming rests on the back yard this evening. December is a bit early for snow around here, but we've had a dusting on the ground for more than a week.

I guess that's to be expected, with the planet in the throes of the dangerous warming trend.

At any rate, it's lovely to behold. Then again, I'll not be going out in it. Not if I can help it.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), a Quran carrying Muslim, wants to create a "Christmas Crisis" to force the GOP's hand. Herein, he also lovingly speaks about "income distribution" as though it were a government purview.

It's funny how "Christmas" has become a practically unspeakable word, unless, of course, it's used as a tool to forward a duplicitous agenda.

Every now and then, these people slip up and tell the ugly truth about their intentions.

Friday, December 10, 2010

You would think that, after 9/11, keeping track of aircraft would be a top priority at the FAA. You would think that ensuring that the planes in the air are actually the planes that they purport to be. You would think that riding close herd on the registration and ownership of aircraft would be central to our security efforts.

NEW YORK – The Federal Aviation Administration is missing key information on who owns one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in the U.S. — a gap the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers.

The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.

About 119,000 of the aircraft on the U.S. registry have "questionable registration" because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who owns a plane or even whether it is still flying or has been junked.

Already there have been cases of drug traffickers using phony U.S. registration numbers, as well as instances of mistaken identity in which police raided the wrong plane because of faulty record-keeping.

Next year, the FAA will begin canceling the registration certificates of all 357,000 aircraft and require owners to register anew, a move that is causing grumbling among airlines, banks and leasing companies. Notices went out to the first batch of aircraft owners last month.

Yeah, let's have a big "do over" and maybe, just maybe, we can get it right the next time. One really has to wonder how long this problem has existed; I'm sure it didn't happen overnight. This inability to perform the most basic of functions is incompetence on a breathtaking scale.

This isn't just a bureaucratic SNAFU, It's a screw-up that can get people killed.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

On Wednesday night the House voted, 212 to 206, to pass a giant spending bill that would keep parts of the government running for the next several months. But it turns out the measure, passed with no Republican votes, does more than that. A little-noticed provision inside the bill, pushed hard by Democrats, could also lead to a massive expansion in the number of casinos run by Indian tribes.

The measure would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to quickly, and without approval from anyone else, take lands into trust for new tribes. What that means is this: A group of people with some native American background petitions the Secretary for recognition as an Indian tribe. That is approved. The new tribe owns a parcel of land and offers the land to the Interior Department for the purpose of the U.S. government taking title to the property -- taking it into trust -- and then allowing the tribe to use the land for its own purposes. That way, the new tribe doesn't have to pay taxes on the land and is also protected from legal actions against them. Then the new tribe, enjoying those benefits of federal land ownership and not having to answer to any state or local authorities, opens a casino.

Yeah, well, it’s past time Indians got with the program. It’s really a shame that we stole their land and messed up their stone-age-hunter-gatherer gig, but they’ve long-since milked their unfortunate loop-hole dry. “Indian reservation” is a pretty weird anachronism in 2010 and it's time to move on.

A man was arrested Wednesday for plotting to blow up a military recruitment center in the Baltimore area, authorities said.

Antonio Martinez, a Muslim convert who called himself Muhammed Hussain, was arrested and is expected to appear later Wednesday in federal court, Fox News confirms.

Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was caught in a sting operation as he tried to detonate a phony bomb at an Armed Forces recruiting station in Catonsville, just outside Baltimore, officials said.

Fortunately, the FBI was on this guy like an Imam on a goat from the word go, but this highlights the danger that we're facing from domestic terrorism at the hands of Islam. This is becoming an all too regular occurrence and we're far past the time when we need to scrutinize the mosques that are producing these people.

As is often said, they only have to get it right once; we have to get it right every time. Liberals like to talk about "root causes"; the root cause of this madness is right before our eyes.

More than 500 suspected Taliban fighters detained by U.S. forces have been released from custody at the urging of Afghan government officials, angering both American troops and some Afghans who oppose the policy on the grounds that many of those released return to the battlefield to kill NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians.

And those numbers understate the problem, military officials say. They do not include suspected Taliban fighters held in small combat outposts or other forward operating bases throughout the region who are released before they ever become part of the official detainee population.

An Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that President Hamid Karzai's government has personally sought the release of as many as 700 suspected Taliban fighters since July, including some mid-level leaders. "Corruption is not just based on the amount of money that is wasted but wasted lives when Taliban return only to kill more NATO forces and civilians," said the official, who opposes what he considers corruption in the Karzai administration.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Karen Davis, a spokeswoman in Kabul, told The Washington Examiner "nearly 500 detainees held in the [detention facility in Parwan] have been released outright or transferred to the [Afghan government] for disposition under Afghan law" so far this year.

What the hell to they think this is, fishing?

I've been a big supporter of the Iraq war as well as the war in Afghanistan, but this is unacceptable to the point that it defies description. As has been stated on this blog, Karzai is corrupt and cares more for his own enrichment than the fate of his country. That we should be bowing to his wishes regarding Taliban fighters is sheer madness.

This is a bloody war, not a paintball game! Risking lives to capture these beasts, only to release them so that they can fight again, turns war into a deadly farce.

Time and time again, the Taliban has proven their intentions and if Karzai thinks they will ever be part of a "coalition", he's tragically mistaken. Fueling his misbegotten belief with American blood should not be an option; the Taliban, simply put, should no longer be allowed to exist in any form.

Taliban fighters should be permanently neutralized with overwhelming force whenever the opportunity presents itself, and Taliban leaders should be executed. The single, best way to win any war is to eliminate the enemy's will to fight; if they love death more than life then they should be obliged accordingly. If any are left, they may reconsider their position on the matter.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

On this Pearl Harbor day, I’ve paused to reflect on how far this nation has descended. Upon listening to FDR’s declaration of war, I noticed an eloquence of speech that would be unintelligible by many people of today. I noticed that he, even as the father of liberalism, spoke as an unapologetic American. Yes, his reticence in taking action against the documented Holocaust being waged by the Nazis was unforgivable. Even though he was excruciatingly late in stepping up to the plate, at least he did so.

I also reflect on the evaporation of our national character. My parents, both who were WWII veterans, never failed to remember Dec 7; we went to mass every time that date rolled around, whether it was on a Sunday or not. Now, just nine years after 9/11, it’s vanishing from our national memory. My parents never could find it in themselves to completely forgive either the Germans or the Japanese for the hell they unleashed upon the world, or the substantial parts of their youth that was lost as a result. They willingly sacrificed for their country, but they always remembered who it was that made that sacrifice necessary.

Thank God for those men and women who willingly sacrifice today, but then, there was an entire country behind them. That’s not so much the case today. Even after 3,000 civilians were lost on 9/11 and thousands more troops lost on the field of combat, many at home dare not speak the enemy’s name.

Our national soul seems to be dying off as rapidly as the WWII generation who saved that soul and passed it on to their children. Many believe that enemies of civilization are relics of a bygone era, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

69 years ago, we picked ourselves off the mat and, in just four years, defeated Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan, decisively, and against all odds. Today, we, as a nation, are still meandering, afraid to name our enemy who becomes more powerful as we become weaker.

Without the will to fight and defend what is ours, the legacy and the sacrifice of the WWII generation is lost forever. To lose it now would be the ultimate insult to those brave men and women of yesterday, and today.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Employers added fewer jobs than forecast in November and the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased, vindicating the Federal Reserve’s decision to pump more money into the economy to spur growth.

Payrolls increased 39,000, less than the most pessimistic projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after a revised 172,000 increase the prior month, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April, while hours worked and earnings stagnated.

More jobs are needed to sustain the holiday-season gains in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, into the new year. Payrolls aren’t growing fast enough to lower the jobless rate, one reason why Fed policy makers announced a new round of monetary stimulus.

“There is some uncertainty about the outlook,” John Herrmann, a senior fixed-income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston, said before the report. Still, “as the recovery gains more traction and business managers become confident about hiring, we think that will ultimately lead to greater job retention.”

Private payrolls that exclude government agencies also gained less than forecast, rising by 50,000 in November. Economists projected a 160,000 gain, the survey showed.

The unemployment rate was forecast to hold at 9.6 percent, according to the median prediction of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Estimates ranged from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent.

Overall payrolls were forecast to climb by 150,000, according to the survey median, with estimates ranging from 75,000 to 200,000. The October figure was revised up from an initially reported gain of 151,000.

Manufacturing payrolls dropped by 13,000 in November, the most in three months. Economists had projected an increase of 5,000.